Plouffe scores twice to back solid Pelfrey

By
Ian Browne
MLB.com

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Veteran Mike Pelfrey allowed just one hit over two scoreless frames as the Twins opened up their Grapefruit League slate with an 8-2 win over the Red Sox on Friday afternoon at JetBlue Park.

"It's fun," Pelfrey said. "You get excited. The adrenaline starts going again and that competitiveness comes back. It's fun. It's hard sometimes. I think you have goals coming in and you want to work on some things, but then you get into it and it's like, 'Oh, hey, let's go.' It's competitive. Instead, you kind of lose sight of what you wanted to do. I thought I did a good job with most things. I'd have liked to have been a little better down and in on right-handers, but I'll continue to work on it."

Highly-touted Red Sox prospect Anthony Ranaudo's first performance against Major League hitters was a dazzling one, as the righty retired all six batters he faced Friday afternoon.

Ranaudo, who is ranked Boston's No. 6 prospect, notched four strikeouts and threw 24 pitches, 19 of them for strikes.

It was a tough debut for Red Sox righty Dalier Hinojosa, who was roughed up for four hits and three runs over 1 2/3 innings.

Trevor Plouffe, Oswaldo Arcia and Wilkin Ramirez all notched RBIs for Minnesota in a three-run fourth.

Mike Napoli went 2-for-2 on a day Boston's other regulars were quiet.

Sox lefty reliever Andrew Miller, pitching for the first time since suffering a broken left foot July 6, looked rusty, issuing three walks and allowing three runs in two-thirds of an inning.

Arcia ended Miller's outing with a sacrifice fly and then Chris Colabello hit a two-run double off reliever Mike McCarthy.

Boston finally cracked the scoreboard in the sixth when No. 9 prospectBryce Brentz homered to center field off reliever Casey Fien.

Up next: Left-hander Scott Diamond is set to start the home opener for the Twins at renovated Hammond Stadium against the Red Sox on Saturday at 1:05 p.m. ET on MLB.TV. Diamond, who is looking to bounce back after posting a 5.43 ERA in 24 starts last year, is competing for the final spot in the rotation along with Vance Worley, Samuel Deduno and Kyle Gibson. Right-hander Allen Webster is slated to start for Boston in the second straight meeting between the two clubs.